When I moved back to the Monastery after being away at school for nine months, I was pleased to find that our wonderful environmental services staff freshened up my bedroom. It was a gift to come home to a room that was free from layers of accumulated dust and to find clean sheets and towels awaiting me.
Truth be told, what really got my attention was my fan. It was perfectly clean and shiny. It looked brand new. I have had this fan since college and it had the layers of dust to prove it. I was never able to clean the fan blades because I could not loosen the tiny screws and remove the cover. How the environmental services crew did this is a mystery to me! They really gave it a deep clean, getting into all the nooks and crannies.
It just so happens that I was pondering the joy over my clean fan while I was getting ready to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As I sat in my room examining my conscience, my eyes fell on the spic-n-span fan. I imagined what it was like to open the protective cover and meticulously wipe away the dust from all the many parts. That image inspired my examination.
How often it is hard for me to open up my protective cover to really look inside myself and examine my thoughts, actions and motives. How much dust covers parts of me that are deep inside and often over-looked. How often I notice the dust within me but don’t make the effort to do anything about it.
I try to receive the Sacrament at least twice a month. But, do I really get in there and give my conscience the attention that was given my fan? Do I really open my heart and display the recesses of my soul? Do I really take advantage of the graces of the Sacrament?
Yes, as crazy as it sounds, a spotless apparatus with rotating blades led me to better appreciate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And, yes, I am proud to say I’m a fan of confession!